ATLANTA – There is no more wait and see.
Kicking the can is a captain’s default but Sunday’s final round at the Tour Championship officially put U.S. Presidents Cup captain Jim Furyk and his International counterpart, Mike Weir, on the clock with Tuesday’s deadline to announce the final six picks for each team looming.
Here are the players in the mix for a captain’s pick and how they may or may not have helped their chances at East Lake.
U.S. Team
Sam Burns (No. 7 on the points list): He was already a virtual lock for one of Furyk’s picks, but his play at East Lake — where he finished tied for 12th following a final-round 70 — only solidified his status as Scottie Scheffler’s ride or die at the matches.
Tony Finau (No. 8): Also finished T-12 and did nothing to persuade the captain from picking him. Finau has quietly become one of the U.S. team’s most consistent players and Furyk will want that production at Royal Montreal.
Russell Henley (No. 9): He was the player who helped his cause the most in the playoffs with top-30 finishes at the FedEx St. Jude Championship and BMW Championship and a strong week at East Lake (T-4) that included eight birdies and an eagle in the final round (62). The only knock against Henley is he’d be a rookie, but his putting and tenacity is what Furyk is looking for in a pick.
Keegan Bradley (No. 10): This will likely be the captain’s biggest conundrum. Bradley had already been tabbed as a vice captain for this year’s matches and wasn’t on Furyk’s radar until he won the BMW Championship. His performance at East Lake (T-21) didn’t help his chances but next year’s U.S. Ryder Cup captain is squarely in the mix.
Chris Kirk (No. 13): He could have used a better finish at East Lake (T-27), but he remains something of a wildcard and, like Henley, should probably spend Monday waiting for a call from the captain.
Akshay Bhatia (No. 14): Another potential pick that did nothing at the season finale (26th), but he’s become a popular option among those who see the U.S. team trending younger.
Billy Horschel (No. 17): After struggling in 2023, just making it to the Tour Championship was an accomplishment and he admitted that he is probably too far back to rate serious consideration. His tie for 23rd at East Lake didn’t do anything to change that reality.
Tom Hoge (No. 18): Another player that needed something extraordinary to happen at the Tour Championship to get the captain’s attention and it didn’t, with Hoge finishing tied for last in the 30-man field.
Justin Thomas (No. 19): A tie for 14th after starting the week in the basement of the 30-man field, and 10 shots behind points front-runner Scottie Scheffler, will get Furyk’s attention. Even without his regular partner, Jordan Spieth, who underwent wrist surgery this past week, Thomas’ Presidents Cup record (10-3-2) might be enough to merit a pick.
Not at East Lake: Nos. 11 Brian Harman, 12 Max Homa, 15 Eric Cole and 28 Nick Dunlap are sure to be in the conversation for a potential pick but didn’t advance to the Tour Championship.
Of the three, Harman seems to be the most likely candidate with 11 top-25 finishes in 22 starts this season and he’d be an easy plug-and-play partner for nearly the entire team.
Dunlap presents an interesting choice for Furyk. His victory at The American Express as an amateur didn’t count toward his point total for this year’s Presidents Cup and his last five starts of the season were a victory at the Barracuda Championship and a tie for fifth at the playoff opener in Memphis. It would qualify as a bold, but not entirely unjustifiable, pick.
International Team
By comparison, Weir’s weekend wasn’t nearly as eventful with just two potential picks at the finale — Christiaan Bezuidenhout and Taylor Pendrith — and it’s difficult to imagine an International team that doesn’t include Canada’s Pendrith along with Corey Conners, who is No. 7 on the points list but didn’t advance to the Tour Championship.
Christiaan Bezuidenhout (No. 10): Luckily for the South African his play at East Lake, where he tied for last, won’t factor into Weir’s decision and his body of work in 2024 (with 12 top-25 finishes and just four missed cuts) is enough to make him a likely pick to play his second Presidents Cup.
Taylor Pendrith (No. 11): There are plenty of reasons to make Pendrith a pick — including his performance coming down the stretch that includes a tie for 13th at the BMW Championship, a fifth-place showing in his final regular season start at the 3M Open and a tie for 14th at East Lake — but it’s the flag on his bag that all but guarantees he’s a pick. If Weir is going to make the most of his “home-field” advantage at Royal Montreal he needs as many Canadians on his team as possible.
Not at East Lake: Of the other players in the mix for a pick that didn’t punch their ticket to the Tour Championship, Nos. 8 Cam Davis, 9 Min Woo Lee, 12 Nick Taylor, 13 Adam Hadwin and 15 Mackenzie Hughes are the front-runners.
Davis went 2-3-0 at the 2022 matches and he narrowly missed earning a spot at East Lake with his tie for fifth at the BMW Championship, not to mention his victory at the Rocket Mortgage Classic in June.
If Weir is looking for chemistry, Lee and Jason Day, an International team staple, were paired in Paris at last month’s Olympics. It wasn’t a team event but they made it look like it was.
As for Taylor, Hadwin and Hughes, the Canadians would add to the home advantage but none of the three have a top-25 on Tour since June. One of the three will likely land a captain’s nod but until Tuesday’s announcement, it’s a toss-up.
